RIO DE JANEIRO – Following Forrest Griffin’s devastating loss to fellow former champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at Saturday night’s UFC 134 event, it was fairly evident that words were not going to console him.

So UFC president Dana White did the next best thing: He gave him a ride home.

Griffin (18-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) who just moments before the evening’s post-event press conference received a surprise announcement that his wife was ready to give birth to their daughter some nine days early, didn’t make excuses for his performance. But White said he understood completely and wanted to get him back to Las Vegas ASAP.

“Forrest is a warrior,” White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “He wears his heart on his sleeve. I have so much respect for him for coming and taking this fight in this situation. He knew he was going to be in this situation. He was just hoping – she was supposed to be nine days later.

“He was just texting with her before he came in here, and she said she thinks she’s ready to go, so I’m leaving tonight and he’s flying home with me tonight,” White said.

It was the ultimate compliment to pay the first winner of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Griffin, who seemed a little out of sorts the entire week leading up to UFC 134, was dealt the ultimate wild card with the announcement that his wife was going to potentially give birth to their daughter before he could make it home from Brazil, site of Saturday night’s historic event.

“If I’d have known it was going to work out like this, I would not have taken the fight,” Griffin quipped. “We were supposed to have nine more days.”

But he did take the fight.

And while one of Griffin’s signature career moments remains his 2007 win over Rua, the rematch most certainly did not go his way. Griffin wasn’t able to overpower Rua, to use his length as a weapon. Instead, he was hesitant to attack and ultimately paid the price, feeling the power of the Brazilian’s hands en route to a first-round TKO loss.

“I’m not really 100 percent sure (what happened),” Griffin said. “I had a lot of opportunities to go, and I didn’t go. The gameplan was to get off after he missed. He missed a couple of times big, and I just stood there and let him off the hook. It was partly that, and I didn’t really stay in a rhythm.

“I had a decent camp going into this. It’s been nine weeks since the last time we were [in Brazil]. It’s just setting in. I think that’s a fight that I definitely could have done a lot better. It sucks when you do poorly at your job.”

With the result, Griffin falls to just 2-3 in his past five fights. And while the fights have been against some of the world’s absolute best fighters – Rua, Rich Franklin, Tito Ortiz, Anderson Silva and Rashad Evans – the two wins have come via decision, and all three losses have been by knockout or TKO.

Despite the ups and downs, White said he remains fully behind the mercurial 32-year-old scrapper. The UFC boss long ago promised a Griffin an ever-lasting spot in the promotion, but this has little to do with some kind of commitment to a good employee. Instead, White insists Griffin is still a relevant player in the UFC’s incredibly stacked light heavyweight division.

“There’s no doubt Forrest is top-10,” White said. “He can go out and beat anybody on any given night. you never know with him. He’s tough.

“I want to thank him. I appreciate the fact he took this fight. His wife is literally getting ready to deliver their baby in Las Vegas right now. So we’re going to try and get him home as fast as we can.”